How much is the debt dragged up to today by the Institute of Health for Wellbeing (Insabi)? It is a great unknown because we already know that the current government does not like to give reports or be transparent.
But maybe it’s not because they have bad will. Rather because although they wanted to report it, they did not know it themselves. At least this is evidenced by the result of an audit carried out between April and June 2021 by the Internal Control Body dependent on the Ministry of Public Function.
In the document resulting from said audit that came into our hands yesterday, the Coordination of Supply of Medicines and Medical Equipment, headed by Alejandro Antonio Calderón Alipi, is complained in all its letters: the “Lack of control, monitoring and supervision of the contracted liability with suppliers for the areas that made payments and the balances pending payment ”.
It was an audit signed by Yolanda Cano Castillo, head of the Internal Audit of Development and Improvement of Public Management, applied to the entire year of 2020 where, among multiple absences, a huge budget under-exercise is reported for purchases of supplies.
The auditors analyze a sample of 15 contracts from 2020 for an amount of 4,088 million pesos, and they detect that as of December only 16% of that acquisition had been paid, leaving a debt of 3,453 million pesos.
What was done with those public funds that were authorized and were not used? Were they registered as a sub-exercise? Were they covered under Debts from previous fiscal years (Adefas)? These are the obvious questions that the auditor asks himself and asks Insabi to prepare a detailed report on the matter (which would be interesting to know).
The serious thing that this audit reflects is that the Insabi is not that it lacks a budget to cover its debts, but that it preferred to sacrifice suppliers and in the middle of the pandemic year the money was left in the public coffers without being exercised. Many have been able to continue making deliveries of medicines and basic equipment, but there was money to pay them so they could continue producing.
Among other capital sins, the auditors make Insabi see that its people “do not have defined procedures and programs for the supply of medicines and supplies.” Neither for market research prior to acquisitions, nor for planning, programming and supervising the supply, nor for coordinating and integrating the requirements of the entities adhering to consolidated purchases. And they also show the lack of criteria in the integration of minimums and maximums of drugs and other supplies.
For more clarity, until last April the Insabi had no clear idea of how to carry out its supply functions entrusted by the President of the Republic.
Reading all the deficiencies and null expertise of Insabi marked in that document, the cause of the disaster triggered in the supply of medicines and other supplies in public health institutions is fully understood, a task assigned by the president as of 2020.
In addition, as if that were not enough, the said Institute led by Juan Ferrer has not cared about the legal formality either: another fault highlighted by the OIC is that the procurement contracts with the supplier companies have not been signed by the Coordination of Legal Affairs. And here the specialist Lourdes Motta, who has been in charge of the legal areas of Health in previous six-year terms, makes us see that the legal authorities cannot evade their responsibility, since it is not feasible to argue that they do not pass the documents because they also have to pursue to review all processes, especially if it is the exercise of resources for fundamental purchases.
What is delicate about this is the risk that there are irregular contracts that do not meet the enormous legal requirements with the risk of future costs for the Treasury due to possible lawsuits or non-compliance.
It reminds us of the contract for the purchase of the Cansino vaccine that the secretary Jorge Alcocer ended up signing and ended in a matter that was quite troublesome to the extent that it broke the relationship with the supplier company and the vaccine itself, now non-existent in Mexico.
Journalist on economics and health issues
Health and Business
Communicator specialized in public health and the health industry. Studying a master’s degree in Health Systems Administration at FCA of UNAM.
Founder in 2004 of www.Plenilunia.com, a concept on women’s health. I am passionate about researching and reporting on health, innovation, the science-related industry, and finding an objective business approach to each topic.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx